By Emma Niland

As an avid shopper, one would think that I would enjoy going out after dark on the night of Thanksgiving to my favorite stores and shop for hours into the early morning to get the best deals of the year. Even my grandmother offered to give me some money so that I could go out and enjoy Black Friday with some friends. But oh, were they wrong. 

Black Friday is known as perhaps the only day of the year where shoppers storm through the front doors of stores like packs of wild animals just to get the best deals on the most useless products. Shoppers are trampled by the most eager individuals. Yes, I said trampled. Since 2006 there have been 12 deaths and 117 reported severe injuries on Black Friday, according to the New York Post. In 2018, a mall shooting in an Alabama mall left one dead and two severely wounded, including a 12-year-old girl. 

According to the same statistics from the New York Post, a reported seven of those deaths and 98 of those injuries were from driving-related accidents. And get this- the most common cause was drivers falling asleep behind the wheel due to not getting enough sleep the night before. 

Sorry, but I’m not going to risk my safety and health for a few good deals. 

Pushing the topic of death and injury tolls to the side, there has always been speculation regarding whether or not Black Friday is as good as it seems to be. In other words, are shoppers really getting the best deals for products and saving money?

According to Business Insider, prices change over the course of a year, and they usually follow the same pattern annually. In particular, fitness equipment typically sells for lower prices towards the end of the winter and then its prices hike back up in spring and summer. This means that the supposed “best” deals on specific items may not be the best of the year. Just wait a little while longer until after Christmas, for that is when the prices of commonly-bought Black Friday items plummet. 

So basically, shoppers who think they’re being smart by stockpiling items on Black Friday are actually not as smart as they think they are. They are simply falling victim to propaganda and false advertisements presented to them by some of the biggest companies in America. So congratulations to all of you smart shoppers! You played yourselves, as well as your wallets.

Despite Target being my all-time favorite place to shop, I refuse to even go there on Black Friday. Even though Target carries high-name brands and models of popular items, when it comes to Black Friday, Target tends to mark down their “worse” brands. From a business standpoint, this makes sense, right? However, this only ridicules those who stand by Black Friday so wholeheartedly, for they are really paying less for WORSE brands, not better.

To my delight, Black Friday’s popularity has dropped significantly, and in the past few years, Dec. 23 has become the most popular shopping day in America. Not to mention, online shopping is becoming more and more popular as the years pass.

The Monday following Thanksgiving is a perfect example of this. On what is known across the country as Cyber Monday, internet sites are flooded with users trying to buy the latest and greatest at the lowest prices. I myself have partaken in this occasion, and I truthfully believe it’s a better and safer alternative to Black Friday.

Why waste time, gas, and energy trying to move around thousands of people on Black Friday when you can buy products online a few days later? The craziest of Black Friday shoppers seem to be afraid that products will sell out, but due to the size and goals of Corporate America, big business will be sure to not cease production of items that will make them money. So to all of you crazy Black Friday shoppers, don’t fret.

However in all fairness, is Black Friday really the worst day in the calendar year? The answer is yes. In fact, I would even go to say that Black Friday is one of the worst parts of our culture here in America.

So to all of you Black Friday shoppers who spent hours racing around wasting money, I am happy to say I go to spend the day after Thanksgiving with family eating way too much leftovers, and I plan to go shopping on my own time.